Method of making wire-glass.



R. S. PEASEH METHOD (1F mama WIRE GLASS.

APPLLCATCIN FILED IUNEEZM 1912.

Patente 1 M2111. 19, 1918. Y

5 SHEETS-SHEET I.

IN V EN TOR.

WITNESSES F OR N E Y vj s. PEASfi. METHOD OF MAKING WIRE GLASS. APPLICIATION FILED JUNE b.1912.

Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

IN V N TOR TTORNE Y.

R. S. PEASE. METHOD 0F MAKING WIRE GLASS. APPLICATION FILED JUNE 21 19:2.

Patented 19 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 3- A TTORNE V R. S. PEASE.

METHOD OF MAKING WIRE GLASS.

ArluLAliGN FILED JUNE 21. 19H]- 7 1,259,":7'72" Patented Mar.19,1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET R. 8 PEASE'.

METHOD OF MAKING WIRE GLASS.

APPHCATIDN HLED JUNEZ. 1912 Patented Mar. 19, 1918.

5 SHEETS-SHEET 5- 5 M. v w M uk U.

WITNESSES:

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Ffiiiliifi t3" EiflfillS PATENT {)FFICE.

3305? S P215533, 3)? PITTSBU RGH PEIYLJEYll-VANIA. ASSIGNOR PO PITTSBURGH PLATE GLASS COMPANY. OF PITTSBURGH PENNSYLVANIA. A COKPORATlON OF PENNSYL- V .i In? LA.

METHOD 01'! MAKING WIRE-GLASS.

Application filed June 21. 1912.

To all in tom 1'15 may concern:

Be it known t I, Rose-n '13. rose, :1 citizen of the rte-cl States, residing at Pittsburgh, in the county of Allegheny and State of Pennsylvania, have inventul err-- tsin new and useful lmprovennints in oils of Making V c-Gi'nss, of which the iollmving is a spe cation This lnventiim has reference to a method of and apparatus for making wire glass and ithas for its objects, the provision of an improved method of drawing wire glass; the provision of an improved method whereby wire glass may be drawn from a body of molten glass with the wire properly embedded in the glass; the provision of an improved method whereby a glass covering for the-wire is formed out of contact with the wire and then Welded over the Wire; the provision .of an improved method of drawing wire lass continuously; and the provision of improved apparatus for carrying out the method herein described. These, together with such other objects as hereinafter appear or are incidental to my invention I attain by means of a construction which I have illustrated in preferred form in the accompanying drawings wherein Figure 1 is a section through an extension or dog house of a glass furnace showing the application or my improved mechanism; Fig. 2 is a similar section of a slightly moditied arrangement of dog house and illustrntes the wire feeding mechanism and air supply; Fig. 3 is a transverse section through the central portion of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is u plan view of the apparatus shown in Fig. 1; Fig. 5 is a longitudinal section through an annealing leer which constitutes a part. of my invention; Figs. 6 and 7 are respectively a. section and side elevation of the glass drawing bait employed; Fig. 8 is i a cross section through a portion of a conveyor belt utilized incarrying out my in ventlon.

In carrying out my invention, 1' propose to draw the glass covering from a body of molten glass and weld the same about the wire fabric the drawing proceeds, thus constituting the process in eil'cet a .?rn:-.tin uous one. I further propose to anneal the sheet of glass tl' form-zed in a leer while the dra'" operetqon continues. ql

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 19. 1918.

Serial No. 785.032.

understood from a description of the apps.- rutus which I employ.

Referring to Fig. l of the drawing, it; will be seen that l have. shown in cross section a dog-bruise 1, provided with a central drawing orifice '2 from which the glass covering 3 for the wire fabric -'lis drawn. Located beneath the doghouse is an airtight chamber 1 into which air under pressure suliicient for the drawing operation is admitted through the pipe 1". Mounted in the bottom portion or the dog-house and projecting up through the orifice 2 is a hollow standard or core which is of an ex tended flat shape and opens into the chamber 1 as clearly appears from an inspection of Figs. 1 and 3. This standardis located within an apparatus which I designate as an air pot. or ring and which comprises fixed" members or pedestals 6 above which floats the air drawing ring 7, the-walls of which have an annular groove or recess 8 into" winch the members 6 are adapted to pro ject. The members 6 and the core 5 are both removably mounted on the bottom of the dog house so that they may be readily repaired or replaced. With this end in View I have provided asbestos parking between" adjacent surfaces and providedan overhead traveling crane with which to move the said vidcd with air ports 9 opening into the re:

parts (see Fig. 1). The members 6 are prodog-house, thus cutting oil the heat and gasfiamcs in the dog house from the glass covering as it is being drawn. The loss covering is in effect n bubble or tubu or body of glass and is formed by immersing a bait 11 in the glass in the usual manner and thereafter elevating the bait, whereupon n tubu-v tar member is drawn from the body of the glass, air pressure from the-chamber 1 being supplied to the interior of the tube through the cavity 5 in the standard 5. The bait 11 is provided with .1 plurality of hooks l1 and a rod 11 is hung from the hooks after be wu first run tin-cugh the meshes in the end of the wire fabric. Thisaflords a simple and secure means for fastening the fabric to the bait. From inspection of Fig. 2, it-will be seen that the wire fabric 1s rolled about a drum 12 carried on a carriage 13 located in the chamber 1 beneath the dog house. The fabric passes from the drum through a pair of rollers 1% which are driven by a motor ll and serve to flatten out any irregularities in the wire; to, the standard 5, the end of the wire fabric being fastened in position within the bait as above pointed out, From the foregoing, it will be apparent that the tubular glass covering 3 will' be drawn from the glass in the dog house about the wire fabric 4: but out of contacli therewith.

In order" t' wire fabri'c', anis'nf: Locatedopposite to each other on either side of the drawing orifice 2 are weld the covering over-the pai'r'of trucks or carriages 15' and 16 which are adapted'to t'ravc'l on the tracks 1?. Each truck is provided with a pair of rolls 18 which carry a belt 19, the rolls being turned by means of electric or any other preferred type of motor 20 at the same rate of speed asthat of the bait'. The belts are driven in opposite directions indicated by the arrows in Fig. I and are tightened by means of any preferred form of belt-tightencrs 21. The trucks are moved backward and forward by means of motors not shown, and

when the glass covering 3 is being firstdrawn, the trucks are retracted from the orifice in order to permit the passage of the bait and the tubular glas covering being drawn thereby. After the bait has been elevated a suflicient'dist'ance to clear the trucks, the latter are advanced to the position indicated in Fig. 1 and the bait is drawn ofi' toward the right on the belt of the carriage 15 by a cable as will hereinafter further appear. r

The oeration of the a paratus thus far describe is as follows} he carriages are first retracted and the bait 11 supported on the truck 15, or otherwise as may be desired,

and the fabric 4 is secured in place in the bait which is then lowered into the drawing orifice" 2 and partially immersed in the glass in the dog house. The bait is then elevated a sufficient distance to clear the trucks l5- -and 16 which are advanced until the rolls press together the sides of the tubular memer drawn by the bait and weld them over the wire fabric. T he bait'is then moved to the right by a cable and draws with it the glass sheet formed by the action of the rollers andbelts of the trucks, the tubular covering 3 being continuously drawn as the bait meves. It is to be noted that while the rolls 18 are the positive means for pressing he sides. e heta u mem e the sheet is directly formed between the provide the following nie'c'liconveyer belts on the carriages and is carricd on the belt 15 of the carriage l5. lhis provides a simple and effective means of handling the sheet of glass.

Located immediately adjacent the outer end of the truck ii) is the receiving opening 22 of an annealing leer in which the sheet plurality of sections 25, 26, 27, etc, as will appear from inspection of the Fig 5. The lower belt is carried on the rolls 28 29, the bearing 30of the roll 29 being ad ustabl'e longitudinally in order to provide" means for tightening the belt. The axle of the roll 28 is driven by a motor 31 through a worm gear- 32 and-imparts movement to the" belt 24 in' the direction of the arrow. Located between the rolls 28, 29', are a plurality of idlerrolls 32 which revent sagging of the upper part of the belt which would result in breakage of the glass sheet. It will be apparent that the roll 29 as well as any of the intermediate rolls 3? may also be driv n, if desired, or that a plurality of belts and rolls may be provided for the lower conveyer member as well as the upper. The upper sections areea'cli comprised of two rolls 33 mounted in suitable framework 34: and carrying a belt 35. The framework 34: is mounted in such manner in the body of the leer that it can be elevated to A theposition indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 5 in order to permit the passage of the bait 11. At the beginning of a drawing operation, all of the upper sections are moved to the raised position indicated and are successively lowered as the bait passes them until the belts- 35 engage the upper surface pflth'e glass sheet being carried on the lower ie t.

The leer may be of any desired construction, but preferably provided with a lurality or heating fines 36 which extend ongitudin'ally of the leer beneath the conveyor mechanism. Located beneath the fines 36 are a number of receptacles contairrfn heat storage material 37 such as broken bi'ic glass, thereby insuring proper annealing of the glass in the leer and preventing breakages. Located, irnmedizttelye adjacent. the outer ends or the com/eyeiits in leer in position to receive the glass sheet is a link belt convcyer 39 which comprises a moving belt 40 having transversely disposed tread members ll which are spaced apart at 5 desired intervals. The trends allord a substantial base portion upon which the glass sheet may hc cut into sections without lia bility of breakage.

In order to prevent cooling of the glassbefore it is carried into the annealing leer, I provide the truck with a copper plate 42 through which extend a plurality of steam pipes ill by means of which the plate and the glass are heated. The plate 42 also 15 serves the additional purpose of providing platform or support for the belt 19, such iupport being required in order to prevent breakage or buckling of the glass as it IS being flattened and smoothed out by the block 4A which when the necessity therefor arises is moved back and forth across the glass sheet as it is being drawn toward the annoalin leer. This lock is preferably composed of bass-wood boiled in a solution 26 of borax. Bass-wood, when so treated, will char but will not readily burn with a flame end has been found to be particularly ad- ,ya'nta eous'fo'r thev purpose indicated.

: .Bef erring to Fig. 8, it will .be seen that 80 the conveyor belts. are comprised of a body "portion 45 which is preferably copper and 'E'hf-an outer sheet or covering member 46' which is preferabl composed of asbestos or i similar flexible re ractory material, riveted, orflotherwise secured to the copper plate. =This construction has been found to give the desired strength and refractory qualities "found'most suitable to secure the proper annealing of the glass. 40 Assuming, now, that thewire fabric has been secured to the bait and a tubular cov e'rin 'mernber drawn b ,the bait, and that the ait has been, turnc at right angles and is being drawn along with the belt 19 of i the truck 15, the coverin member and wire 7 fabric having been welded into a sheet of wire glass, the. operation is as follows:

The bait is drawn into the annealing leer, drawing with it the sheet of glass which is 0 first flattened out if desired on the truck 15 by the block 44 and then carried between the various belts throughout the length of the annealing leer. When the bait 1S drawn through the length of the leer and reaches the link belt conveyor, it may be cut off, the frictional hold of the conveyer belts on the sheet of lass being carried between them being Sl cient to carry the sheet along and continue the drawing operation which 50 occnrsin the dog house.

From the foregoing description, it will be apparent that in following out my im roved method. I form the glass covering or the wire fabric about the fabric but out of contact tberawiLh. and than weld the sides of the covering over the wire fabric in the form of a sheet, after which the sheet is drawn off at right angles, is flattened and smoothed out if necessary and maintained at proper Lennierature and carried into the annealing leer, in which air is excluded from the surface of the glass. After the sheet of glass has been carried through the lecr and has been properly annealed, it is cutolf into sections at the discharge end of the leer" and can be placed where desired. The operation is thus in a sense a contiuuone one, the sheet being continuously drawn and carried into an annealing leer as it is being formed, and then cut oil" in sections at the discharge end of the leer after it has been properly annealed.

The advantages of my invention reside chiefly in the great reduction of the cost of production, which results not only from the simplicity of and the continuous character of the operation, but also from obviating the necessity of grinding and polishing which is the majoritem of expense in the formation of wire glass by the casting processes in current use. By drawing the glass, the sheet will be transparent and there will be little or no-occasion for any grinding and polishing.

Referring now to Figs. 6 and 7, it will be seen that the bait 11 is provided with trunnions 47 which are adapted to engage tracks 48 which preferably have the form of a channel iron in cross section, the flanges servin as guides for the trunnions thus contro ling the direction of movement of the bait. From inspection of Fig. 7 it will be noted that the bait is first moved upwardly a sufiicicnt distance to clear the rolls and then deposited on the conveyer'belt 15 of the carriag 15.-aftcr which it is drawn into the leer. The preferred means of drawing the bait is a cable 49 such as that shown in Fig. 7, which cable is fastened in any suitable? manner to the trunnions and which may be supported from the traveling crane, or otherwise, when the initial move ment of the drawing operation occurs.

It will be understood that I have diagrammatically illustrated apparatus for carrying out my invention and that different forms of mechanism could be utilized with out departing from the spirit of the invention. It will also be apparent that other types of wire material than the one shown can be employed, and that the term wire fabric in the claims is used in its broad sense and covers any form of material suitable for the purpose.

Having thus described my invention and illustrated its use'what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is the following:

1. The herein described process of making wire glass, which consists in drawing the glass in hollow cylindrical f0rm surrounding the Wire, and then in flattening the cylinder to embed the Wire between the walls of the cylinder.

:2 The herein described, process of making Wire glass, which consists in drawing the glass in hollow cylindrical form sun rounding the wire, then pressing the sides of, the cylinder togetl1e1' witli the wire. be tween, and then in annealing the sheet out of contact Witllthe atmosphere.

3. The herein described process of, malt:

ing wire glass, Which consists in. drawing a covering. member for the wire fabric, in

welding. tlie covering. and. fabric into sheet 15 '%ned my nnmein. the presence/0f the two. 

